I'm on day 5 of my pre-op diet (getting banded 2/18) and feeling really miserable. i've been lethargic all day and have a terrible headache. also, my stomach is quite upset. is this normal? i can't tell if i'm getting sick or i'm just desperate for a sandwich. my emotions are telling me i would feel better with some real food. today i felt so sorry for myself i had some soup with essentially the same nutrition as my shakes, but was this a mistake? i'm supposed to be having 4-5 shakes a day and optional plain low-sodium broth or steamed green veggies. this just isn't cutting it and 9 the thought of 9 more days seems unbearable. even dog food looks good. help!s

heather - -

I am SOOO feeling your pain right now.. My doctor prescribes only slimfast, Water, sugar free drinks like crystal light, broth, Jello, fat free yogurt and popsicles...I am only on day 2 and I am dying. I have the worst headache in the world and my body is dying of hunger. I have read alot of these posts on here and am feeling not only extremely discouraged but confused as to why some of these people on here and their doctors have prescribed high Protein low carbs, veggies, etc. If I had this option i could live with this! but i dont. I'm a little scared but I said screw this and ate a egg white omelette with some spinach this morning. After googling shrinking liver diets I keep coming across the same thing, high protein low carbs..am i missing something? Or is this diet just prescribed to us so we can get used to what its going to be like after?

Yannabe, "My doctor prescribes only slimfast, Water, sugar free drinks like crystal light, broth, Jello, fat free yogurt and popsicles" this diet actually does not sound so bad. Did they give you a calorie limit? If so I would pick your food for the entire day and space it out having something every couple hours. I understand this will probably mean you have to stop eating even though you are still hungry. Think of it as trying to keep you bloodsuger stable over the whole day. In regards to fat free yoghurt I highly recommend fat free Greek style yoghurt as it has TWICE the Protein of regular yoghurt (I do add splendra as it is really sour.). Personally I like Chobani with fruit. I also recommend Mrs Dash salt free flavorings added to stock (pre heating). Oh and stock vs. broth it will have a lot more flavor (and don't bother with the low salt version it's bad enough as it is).

thanks guys. i am now on day 11 and feeling okay for two days, crappy for 1. the lethargy was killing me so i cheated--yup, it's true. but it didn't help me feel better. i think my body was just in shock going from pig-out mode to pre-op diet.

i burn about 800 calories at the gym four times a week, so an intake of under 1000 calories just wasn't cutting it. i know it's not good to go into this with the mindset that this pre-op diet is impossible, and therefore i'm not doing it, but at least when i cheated i made healthy choices--cottage cheese, grilled chicken, a bit of hummus. okay, so i totally broke down and had a pb and j, but i learned that it did not make me feel any better. mostly tums helped-- i was feeling so nauseated until i took the tums. my bmi is not that high so i can't imagine that i need to be on the exact same stuff as somebody with bmi over 50 in order to have surgery be safer.

that said, i didn't get any gratification from my cheating and i have tried to stick as close to the regimen as i could. i think it's mostly to prep us for the necessity of being strict about post-op diet. i only have a couple more days and although my scale at home is all messed up, i feel like i've lost at least 10 lbs.

I'm on day 5 of my pre-op diet (getting banded 2/18) and feeling really miserable. i've been lethargic all day and have a terrible headache. also, my stomach is quite upset. is this normal? i can't tell if i'm getting sick or i'm just desperate for a sandwich. my emotions are telling me i would feel better with some real food. today i felt so sorry for myself i had some soup with essentially the same nutrition as my shakes, but was this a mistake? i'm supposed to be having 4-5 shakes a day and optional plain low-sodium broth or steamed green veggies. this just isn't cutting it and 9 the thought of 9 more days seems unbearable. even dog food looks good. help!s

I understand...Man I can't sleep when my stomach is aching from hunger. I have become famous for what i call "night raids". I swear i woke up the next day and not two hot dogs are gone. at least when i'm banded i'll hopefully be FULL' SINCERELY j

Feeling like absolute crap on the pre-op diet is normal. Not everybody reacts to being put in ketosis the same and headaches, fatigue and nausea are commonly reported. Generally the feelings subside a bit after a few days of the diet. The hunger should also go away too but if you cheat even the littlest bit and throw in some sugar it comes back with a raving vengeance.

I was banded 11/10. Last week i was at my support group meeting and we were talking about the pre op diet. We all agreed that we hated it, but it was a great way to lead us into our new post op diet. It wasn't such a shock to go from cheese burgers to broth overnight. Besides for a few days you don't feel much like eating anyway.

I thought this was just me but I've had exactly that.

A headache, lack of energy and sick to my stomach.

I don't feel healthy... I know I need to trust the doctors but this diet feels so unhealthy to my body.

I can't tell if my body is upset more by the type of food I'm eating or if it's how frequently that I'm eating which is causing it to feel wrong.

Oddly, I feel much more full than I do regularly. Then again, I'm used to having 2 meals a day and not eating for about 4 hours after I wake up, unlike the diet's perscribed 2 hours. Maybe that's it?

I really just can't tell. Is it the frequency and the hours I'm eating? Or is it the type of food?

I hope this goes away soon and doesn't last all the way until my surgery.

On 2/15/2011 at 8:56 AM, yannabee said:

heather - -

I am SOOO feeling your pain right now.. My doctor prescribes only slimfast, Water, sugar free drinks like crystal light, broth, Jello, fat free yogurt and popsicles...I am only on day 2 and I am dying. I have the worst headache in the world and my body is dying of hunger. I have read alot of these posts on here and am feeling not only extremely discouraged but confused as to why some of these people on here and their doctors have prescribed high Protein low carbs, veggies, etc. If I had this option i could live with this! but i dont. I'm a little scared but I said screw this and ate a egg white omelette with some spinach this morning. After googling shrinking liver diets I keep coming across the same thing, high Protein low carbs..am i missing something? Or is this diet just prescribed to us so we can get used to what its going to be like after?

Ugh same. I've only been able to get 2 protein shakes down and 2 to 3 waterbottles and I'm now on day 3 writing this. It's 4:51am right now and I can't go back to bed. Head still kills and I got to work til the 10th to make sure I have all the money I need. I can't stop thinking to myself how is this possible. Why out of all the vids out there did they not tell us this stuff? It's always It's hard cause you can't eat. What about this?! I'm wondering if I could get a doctor's not just in case cause ugh I just want to sleep it away. First day I slept from 530pm to 1030am. Ugh it sucks. I hope it's as worth it as everyone says.